The Trailer

What was the film about?

Daniel Blake, 59, has worked as a joiner most of his life in Newcastle.
Now, after a heart attack and nearly falling from a scaffold, he needs
help from the State for the first time in his life.

He crosses paths with a single mother Katie and her two young children,
Daisy and Dylan. Katie’s only chance to escape a one-roomed homeless
hostel in London has been to accept a flat in a city she doesn’t know
some 300 miles away.

Daniel and Katie find themselves in no-man’s land caught in the trap of
jobseekers allowance.
Social and political context
As of 2017, 20% of UK people live in poverty including 8 million working-
age adults, 4 million children and 1.9 million pensioners. Research by the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found nearly 400,000 more UK
children and 300,000 more UK pensioners were in poverty in 2016-17
compared with 2012-13. Austerity has been part of the conservative
party's policies for a long time, which has left the NHS and other social
services in economic distress.
Ken loach
He is an english director of television and independent films, he is also
known for his socially critical directing style and for his socialist outlook
on life. Therefore it is not unusual for him to make a film like this as he
is known as making films that urge for social change. He is very left-wing
and his movies reflect his political views. Many people disagree but
some people say that the conflicts he causes make him great. He came
out of retirement to make I daniel Blake because he felt that it was
necessary for the situation.
Economic context
This is set in modern day where many people in cities struggle to find
work in the competitive job market. The films depicts a job centre where
the protagonist is forced to apply for jobseekers allowance as their
corrupt test deems him fit to work after suffering a heart attack.

Austerity is the difficult economic conditions created by government

measures to reduce public expenditure. This is shown in ‘I daniel Blake’
as Daniel Blake is shown in poverty and is being constantly rejected off
different benefit systems, which is the battle that Daniel in during the
film.
Product context
The Film made £8 million in profit, for a small production which was only
targeted at the British public, this is expected, with profit not being the
main goal. It also won several awards, including:

● BAFTA Film Award-Outstanding British Film of the Year

● AFCA Award-Best International Film
● Bodil-Best Non-American Film
● Palme d'Or

This showed how successful the film was and how it impacted several
other countries than what it was originally targeted at.
Media industry
The film was marketed very differently to “Straight Outta Compton”,
because they focused on print based adverts and trailers in cinemas
with films that have similar context. They focused this way because it
was aimed at the man on the street and not people who had access to
the internet freely. Also Ken Loach has a pre-sold audience to his name
so if people know about the film, they will want to watch it because they
have high expectations of him.